Transformers (toy line)

The Transformers (トランスフォーマー, Toransufomā) is a line of toys produced by the Japanese company Takara (now known as Takara Tomy) and American toy company Hasbro. The Transformers toyline was created from toy molds mostly produced by Japanese company Takara in the toylines Diaclone and Microman. Other toy molds from other companies such as Bandai were used as well. In 1984, Hasbro bought the distribution rights to the molds and rebranded them as the Transformers for distribution in North America. Hasbro would go on to buy the entire toy line from Takara, giving them sole ownership of the Transformers toy-line, branding rights, and copyrights, while in exchange, Takara was given the rights to produce the toys and the rights to distribute them in the Japanese market. The premise behind the Transformers toyline is that an individual toy's parts can be shifted about to change it from a vehicle, a device, or an animal, to a robot action figure and back again. The taglines "More Than Meets The Eye" and "Robots In Disguise" reflect this ability.

Hyperspace (science fiction)

Hyperspace is a method of traveling sometimes used in science fiction. It is typically described as an alternative region of space co-existing with our own universe which may be entered using an energy field or other device. Travel in hyperspace is typically depicted as faster-than-light travel in normal space. As seen in most fiction hyperspace is most succinctly described as a "somewhere else" within which the laws of general and special relativity decidedly do not apply—especially with respect to the speed of light being the cosmic speed limit. Entering and exiting said "elsewhere" thus directly enables travel near or faster than the speed of light—almost universally with the aid of extremely advanced technology.

Astronomical distances and the impossibility of faster-than-light travel pose a challenge to most science-fiction authors. They can be dealt with in several ways: accept them as such (hibernation, slow boats, generation ships, time dilation - the crew will perceive the distance as much shorter and thus flight time will be short from their perspective), find a way to move faster than light (warp drive), "fold" space to achieve instantaneous translation (e.g. the Dune universe's Holtzman effect), access some sort of shortcut (wormholes), utilize a closed timelike curve (e.g. Stross' Singularity Sky), or sidestep the problem in an alternate space: hyperspace.

Hyperdrive (TV series)

Hyperdrive is a British television science fiction sitcom broadcast by BBC Two in 2006 and 2007. The working title was Full Power. In a 2008 interview, Kevin Eldon commented that he considered a third series was unlikely to be commissioned. Set in 2151 and 2152, it follows the crew of HMS Camden Lock as they stumble through their heroic mission to protect British interests in a changing galaxy.

The series is written by Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley, directed by John Henderson and produced by Alex Walsh-Taylor. The first episode was broadcast on BBC Two on 11 January 2006. A second series began on 12 July 2007 on BBC Two.

Cast and characters

Wasteland

Wasteland or waste land may refer to:

Film and television

Games

Literature

Books

Warhammer Fantasy (setting)

Warhammer Fantasy is a low fantasy setting, created by Games Workshop, which is used by many of the company's games. Some of the best-known games set in this world are: the table top wargame Warhammer Fantasy Battle, the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (WFRP) pen-and-paper role-playing game, and the MMORPG Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning.

Warhammer is notable for its "dark and gritty" background world, which features a culture similar in appearance to Early Modern Germany crossed with Tolkien's Middle-earth. "Chaos" is central to the setting, as the forces of Chaos are unceasingly attempting to tear the mortal world asunder. The world itself is populated with a variety of races such as humans, high elves, dark elves, wood elves, dwarfs, undead, orcs, lizardmen, and other creatures familiar to many fantasy/role-playing settings.

The first edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle (WFB) was released by Games Workshop in early 1983. Prior to this release, the company dealt primarily with the importing of American role-playing games, as well as support and review of gaming products, either through their White Dwarf magazine periodical or as separate commercially available products. The game was a mix of a simple rule system with a background that was drawn from standard fantasy themes. The dedication was, in part, "to Michael Moorcock… whose fault it all is". The game thrived, and subsequent supplements added the particular background to the game. Each "Army List" included a partial history and some related aspects such as notable figures or short illustrative stories. With the publication of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in 1987, the setting had moved from background of the game to a full-fledged fantasy setting.

Wasteland (video game)

Wasteland is a science fiction role-playing video game developed by Interplay for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1988. It was ported to the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS. The game is set in a futuristic, post-apocalyptic America that was destroyed by nuclear holocaust generations before. It was re-released for Microsoft Windows, OS X, and Linux in 2013 via Steam and in 2014 via Desura.

Critically acclaimed and commercially successful, Wasteland was intended to be followed by two separate sequels, but Electronic Arts' Fountain of Dreams was turned into an unrelated game and Interplay's Meantime was cancelled. The game's general setting and concept, however, became the basis for Interplay's 1997 role-playing video game Fallout, which itself would extend into a successful series. A sequel, Wasteland 2 by inXile Entertainment, was released in 2014.

Gameplay

The game mechanics were based directly on those used in the tabletop role-playing games Tunnels and Trolls and Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes created by Wasteland designers Ken St. Andre and Michael Stackpole. Characters in Wasteland consequently have various statistics (strength, intelligence, and luck among others) that allow them to use different skills and weapons. Experience is gained through battle and through use of skills. The game would generally let players advance with a variety of tactics: to get through a locked gate, the characters could use their picklock skill, their climb skill, or their strength attribute; or they could force the gate with a crowbar – or a LAW rocket.